


Play Me A Song

by KaniTheCrab



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: All relationships except Jance are really background sorry folks, Boarding School AU, Multi, forgive me for my tagging sins lord knows ive committed them somehow, i may or may not be making an au of this, if theyre mentioned I tagged them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 10:25:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17282309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaniTheCrab/pseuds/KaniTheCrab
Summary: Sets of music notes could be tied to their relationship. A small string of notes to the start of Lance McClain and James Griffin’s friendship. Perhaps a longer string of notes will accompany the start of something more.





	Play Me A Song

**Author's Note:**

> Goodness gracious this took a while to write. This is my longest fic to date and I may or may not have accidentally started planning an au for this. This Jance fic was written for the lovely V for the Official VLD Amino Secret Santa 2018 event! Thank you so much for your patience, I hope you enjoy! :)  
> http://aminoapps.com/p/06h153  
> http://aminoapps.com/p/8ompwa
> 
> Side note: “Matt/Adam: The put together gay meets the disaster meme boy bisexual. I’m convinced.” I had way too much fun laughing at this pairing,,, I love it.
> 
> ︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
> 
> Songs: Claire De Lune - Debussy  
> Clair De Lune guitar arrangement - Emre Sabuncuoglu https://youtu.be/fFLPdxdvEXk%5D
> 
> ︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
> 
> .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.  
> ”And in that moment I swear we were infinite.”  
> -Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower  
> .・。.・゜✫・.・✭・゜・。.

James was only ten when he heard it the first time- well, not the piano itself, but the first time he heard those notes played together. And it was the first time music had ever stopped him in his tracks.

He’d been exploring with Keith and Ina, two of his close friends. They’d gone to elementary together, and now at in fifth grade they went to the same boarding school. The Galaxy Garrison it was called, and though it was mainly focused on science and mathematics, all of its programs seemed to be highly esteemed; even at low levels like fifth grade.

They all had stopped where they were, but Keith and Ina were quick to move on. James, however, called after them that he would see them again in their dorm rooms. James and Keith shared with a boy named Rolo, while Ina was with two girls named Nadia and Katie.

“James!” Ina had called, “You better not stay here for too long!”

“Yeah,” Keith chimed in a moment later, “We’re meeting the upper leveled kids that are gonna make sure we’re all doing okay and whatever.”

“I know, I know...!” James huffed. “I’ll be back soon, don’t worry!” He waved them off, hesitantly stepping into the music room as they continued down the hall.

“That was good, Lance..!” A voice spoke soothingly. He heard it once he was actually in the room.

“It wasn’t,” presumably Lance pouted, “It was too slow. And I couldn’t even get past the first few measures! It was awful, Veronica!”

“Lance, even Mama couldn’t play this song for ages. Heck, Neither could Marco, Luis, Rachel, or myself. That was really good for your first try!”

“If you say so-“ Lance stopped, spotting James from over the piano. “Oh-! Hi!”

The boy let out a surprised noise, ducking back behind the door. He hadn’t meant to interrupt, not at all. “S-Sorry...!”

“No- Its okay...!” Lance climbed down from the bench, leaving Veronica there to watch them. “We were almost done anyways- Did you need the piano...?” He tilted his head when he asked the question.

“No-! No, I.. I don’t know how to play...” He spoke up hesitantly, shifting on his feet.

“Oh...” Lance paused, his face lighting up. “Were- Were you listening..!?” He waited for the other to respond, and the simple nod was enough to make him let out a sound of pure delight. “That’s great...! Did you like it? I can play something else if you want-“

“Lance,” Veronica cut him off. “You can play later. Right now, we need to get you to your room so we can meet with everyone. Okay?”

“Aww... But Ronnie-“

“No buts. Now c’mon.” She paused, yelling over her shoulder. “You too, Matt and Adam! Let’s go! Shiro and Curtis are probably waiting on us!”

There was some grumbling followed by a boy with slightly messy hair and glasses dragging another boy with even messier hair and glasses after him. “Sorry Veronica.” The one in front spoke, fixing his hair with his free hand. “Matt- Good lord please pull your hair back! You look an absolute mess-”

Matt huffed, pulling his hand away from Adam’s to attempt to tame his hair, as requested. “Only because of you-“

“Boys!” Veronica hissed, gesturing to Lance and James. “There are little ears present, thank you.” Both of them stopped, Matt sighing and Adam flushing deeply as he tried to help the other fix his hair. Veronica continued, “I don’t know why on earth you two can’t every just, oh I don’t know maybe practice in here and only practice like you’re supposed to?”

“What can I say,” Matt piped up, “There’s just something about the way this man plays the violin that really gets- Ow! Hey! You don’t have to pull like that!”

“Little ears, Matthew. Remember?”

Veronica rolled her eyes, leaning against the piano. “Leave it to Matt to have a thing for violinists.”

“The man has one common theme between what he likes. Strings. String theory, string instruments. Two of his favorite things.”

As their bantering was going on, Lance was chattering away to James. He pointed out who was who when the others came forward to James. “The girl is my sister Veronica, that’s my cousin Adam, and his boyfriend Matt! They’re all juniors- starting grade eleven this year!

“Boyfriend?”

“Yeah! Like.. Instead of a boy and a girl together, its two boys! I thought it was kinda weird at first too, but it isn’t really. I mean, its just like you loving a sister and a brother the same way, only its with romantic love and stuff. At least that’s how my mama explained it. It made sense to me at least.” He shrugged, holding out his hand. “I’m Lance, by the way! Lance McClain!”

“I guess that does make sense..” James shifted slightly, gently shaking his hand. “I’m James Griffin... Do you play anything else besides piano?”

“No, not yet. I want to learn something else though! Well, I sing but... No one really calls that playing an instrument except for choir directors.” He laughed, doing his best impression of the old director he’d had. “ ‘The body is your instrument! You must take care of it like one!’ “ Lance shook his head, laughing again. “It always sounded so silly to me... Anyways, do you play anything?”

“Me? No, not really... My friend Keith plays guitar though- he’s teaching me some until my mom signs me up for lessons here!”

“Really?!” Lance perked up. “That’s so cool! Matt plays guitar, and so does my Papa, but they’re the only people I know that do! It looks so hard!”

James shrugged, smiling. “Its not too bad.. Just need the right teacher for it.” He paused, getting an idea. “Hey... What if when I learn some songs, I can play them for you? And then you can play stuff on the piano for me..! That’ll give us practice in front of other people!” He faltered, shifting on his feet. “I mean- unless you think its a bad idea...”

“No...! No, I like it...!” Lance quickly spoke up, grinning. “Lets do that! We can meet here Saturday afternoons! Most lessons by the paid tutors are done then- just students helping each other then if anyone at all. Well... At least I think its then. Thats what Veronica told me.”

“Okay..!” He grinned. “That sounds great...!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!” James grinned. “We can eat lunch then come here!” 

“Oh wow-! That’s an even better idea than just meeting here! Let’s do that!”

Just as they finalized their plans, the elder three finished griping at one another and or fixing one another to be presentable, depending on who was asked. Veronica was the one to cut the boys’ conversation short as Matt and Adam continued their light banter, quieter now.

“Come on you two, lets get you back to your rooms so you can meet with your upperclassmen buddies, yeah?”

“Alright Veronica! Can we walk James back to his room?”

She hummed softly, shrugging after she checked her watch. “Mhm, we have enough time. But we’ve got to be quick if his room isn’t by yours.”

Luckily, though, James’s room was by his. And even luckier, the upperclassmen “buddies” they were assigned to were part of the group that mostly gave up and agreed to take on the twelve munchkins they had as a group of eight.

They first introduced themselves individually, but all gathered together in a small lobby area at the end of the hall once that was finished.

There were Veronica and Rachel McClain, twin sisters who were the head of the first group. Three boys: Lance McClain, Tsuyoshi “Hunk” Garrett, and Ryan Kinkade.

The second group was Adam Wayde and Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane, and their younger buddies were Keith Kogane, James Griffin and Rolo Iona.

The third was Matthew “Chip” Holt with Curtis Muin. Most everyone else goes by their nickname, but the look that Matt gave Shiro for mentioning his signaled that the nickname wasn’t exactly his favorite. In their group they had Matt’s little sister Katie “Pidge” Holt, Ina Leifsdottir- or Leif, but she didn’t go by that much- and Nadia Rizavi.

Last, but not least, there was Lotor Herrick with Axca Zuneri and Allura Ulrich. Keith was disappointed to find out he wasn’t in his older cousin Axca’s group, but he was happy to find out he sort of was- just unofficially. However, in their official group there was Alluras little cousin Romelle Smythe, Shay Chantal, and Nyma Abetzi.

“Though most of the little activities the staff might have us do will have to be in our small groups,” Curtis explained, “You can come to any of us if you need anything. Our rooms are all in the same hall on the Junior’s floor, so it should be easy to find us!”

“That’s the hope, anyways.” Axca chimed in.

“But if you need any help,” Allura quickly added, “you can always ask any of the teachers. They have maps and most are always willing to help. Especially with younger students.”

They paused for questions, then went on to explain everything else. Things like that the cafeteria opens at six am, and closes at nine pm every day. Or that there are plenty of clubs that even they can join, but some are only for middle schoolers (grades 6, 7 and 8) or high schoolers (9, 10, 11, and 12). Even what time they had to be in by- For elementary, they had to be inside by six and in their rooms by ten, middle grades had an hour on that, and for the older students they had to be inside by midnight and in their rooms by two (due to the extra classes many took, extra study sessions, private tutoring, and some that took classes at the more college part of the campus).

That was another big rule; no going to the college part of campus unless you were called to. Shiro said they wouldn’t have to worry about going there for classes until the upper grades, and not many clubs met over there. So they wouldn’t have to worry about that just yet.

Their classes this year would be like their normal elementary classes. They would switch for Science and Math, but for English and History they would have the same teacher. For arts classes, the teacher would come in to the classroom for a certain amount of time on a set day. Gym classes would have its own chunk of time set aside on a specific day, as would computer classes.

Next year, when they got into the middle grades, that would change. And then it would change again in the upper grades! But, Matt was the one to tell them not to worry about it just yet this time. All they needed to worry about was being awake on time and getting their work finished. Their classes didn’t start until nine, though, so that shouldn’t be hard for them.

After that, they went over basic things and handed out maps, schedules, and little planners. A few of the older students laughed when Adam gave the kids calendars, but he brushed them off. “Its always good to have everything written down more than once,” he said, “and even if you don’t use them for assignments and all just yet, its still nice to have something to mark the dates off on.”

They stopped for questions again, allowing the ones who didn’t have any to go off to their rooms. When James and Keith were done, they quickly ran to their room and picked the bunk beds- which Rolo seemed perfectly happy with.

“All I need is my bed, desk, and dresser. Though I really would rather have a bed without someone sleeping over or under me.” He said, sticking the calendar to the wall over his bed with a shrug. “I hope you two don’t mind, but I already sort of claimed the one right here by my desk and the dresser by the door.”

James listened to the other and shrugged, looking to Keith. “Oh- Yeah that’s fine.” The dark haired boy responded, glancing at James. “I call top bunk and middle dresser though.”

“Fine with me. I’ll laugh if you roll off though.” James smirked, dodging a halfhearted punch thrown at his arm. “C’mon you goof, lets unpack then go see Ina!”

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Unpacking went by quickly, as did their visit with Ina. It wasn’t long until dinner had rolled around, and the group decided to eat together. The twelve didn’t really know anyone else, so they ended up sitting together at the big tables. 

It was quiet at first. Ina and Keith talked quietly between one another until Nadia finally broke into their conversation, Romelle hopping in when she found an opening. Shay and Hunk started to talk, but only after they’d been talking to Rolo and Nyma. Eventually even Katie started to talk, having moved from a small greeting to Hunk and some chatter, before moving to talk with Ryan. The one thing that was consistent was that James and Lance were talking.

Most of it was about their plans for Saturdays, but it drifted soon to their families, what they thought they wanted to be when they grew up, and things like that. It was nice to get to know one another- it was a lot more relaxing to talk one on one than in a big group.

Not to say the boys ignored everyone else, no. It became very clear that with this group of friends, it would probably be more common to be in two conversations at once than just one. Most were off put by it at first, but others seemed to thrive with it.

As meals came and passed, everyone became more comfortable with it though. Even Keith seemed more lively and relaxed than before, though he was still fairly soft spoken.

The routine had been quickly established, but everyone seemed happy with it. Eating together or going off to do activities with each other. It was hard to get everyone to do the same thing, and would be harder once their classes actually started, but everyone seemed comfortable enough to venture out with someone from the group.

James’s first venture out with someone other than exploring with Ina and Keith was the first Saturday he met with Lance. He got there, not very surprised to see him already waiting for him. He must have had lessons earlier.

“James!” Lance called, waving him over. “Cmon! I wanna hear what you know!” He scooted over on the bench of the piano, patting it. “You brought your guitar, you’ve gotta show me something! Please?”

The brunette grinned and quickly made his way to the other, nodding quietly. “Okay, okay! But you first!”

“What? No way! You’ve already heard me!” Lance protested.

“Yeah but we can’t sit here if you don’t play, and if we get up we may not get it back!”

Lance huffed, pouting a bit. James was absolutely right, but that didn’t mean he liked it. “Fine, fine. What should I play?”

“Oh um... I dunno, whatever you like I guess?” He shrugged, wiggling so he could see the keys and still give lance room. “I don’t know a whole lot about classical music. Just a few songs.”

“Alright ah... I’ll do small things, cause that’s all I have memorized. And trying something with the sheet music is what I just did for so loooong.”

“Okay..! I bet they’ll be great anyways.”

Lance laughed at that, his nose wrinkling up as he started to play. Small warm up songs mostly, but James still seemed to enjoy every bit of it.

“Okay James,” He spoke when he finished. “Your turn! Let’s go sit over by the big window.” He wiggled off the bench, tugging his friend close behind him.

James stumbled to follow along, settling himself in the little ledge that offered a bench type of area. “I don’t know very much- its not gonna be as good as yours was.”

“Yeah it will be! It’ll be just as good as mine, maybe even better. Just because you haven’t learned as much on guitar as I have on piano doesn’t mean yours will be bad, it just isn’t as advanced yet. You’ll do great!” Lance hopped up beside him. “Cmon, you’ll be great!”

“Okay, okay...!” James swallowed hard, beginning to play. It was only small warm ups, just chords and such, but Lance still was over the moon.

“Those were great!”

“Ah- Not really-“

“Yes really! That was awesome, James! I bet you’re gonna be an amazing guitar player in no time!”

“Heh... Thanks Lance... I sure hope I’ll be a good one eventually. But I bet you’re going to be amazing on the piano! And I bet its gonna be really soon!”

Lance blushed at that, gently bumping against James with his shoulder. “Thanks...” He paused, smiling to himself before breaking into a grin. “Wanna go explore the campus? I’m not busy this afternoon!”

He had to think for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, lets just go drop off my guitar back at my room!” He hopped out of the window sill to put the instrument away, giving Lance an excited look. “Come on!”

“I’m coming!” Lance laughed, hopping down then leaving with James.

This soon became routine for the boys. Spending part of the afternoon playing for one another, then the rest running around campus or playing games. Sometimes they would study together, but that didn’t happen much until they were in the sixth and seventh grades.

They learned a lot about one another during those times. More about their home lives, likes and dislikes, crushes at various times, favorite teachers, favorite songs. Things of that nature. 

In three years, the two of them grew closer to one another. Their whole group grew closer together too. New friendships had formed, and older ones still stayed strong. Everything was going wonderfully for everyone.

Even the graduates- though there had been rocky patches. Different arguments between couples, some falling outs and making ups, but for the most part they were all doing well. They still stayed in touch with the younger group as well- well, as much as they could with college and all.

Though a lot can happen in three years, not much changed for the worst. In fact, the worst things that had happened by the near end of grade seven was that Adam, Shiro, and Matt had been in a car accident. And even then, all had made a mostly full recovery.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

However, at the very end of year seven, things did change drastically. And not for the better.

One of the few days left before most students left for the summer happened to be a day that James and Lance were supposed to meet up. James, as always, was looking forward to it. But he especially was today. With his guitar case over his shoulder and music folder in hand he rushed to the music room. Only when he got there, it wasn’t Lance at the piano. Nor was Lance anywhere, he’d realized after looking around. Maybe he was too early? No, he’d made sure he was exactly on time. Maybe Lance was running late. His lessons did change times, after all.

James nodded to himself and moved to sit by the window sill they always enjoyed together. He could always practice on his own while he waited, maybe even take a few glances at his surprise for Lance. Admittedly, it was a gift to himself but soon he could make it into a gift for Lance. Well.. Eventually.

It was the sheet music for one of his and Lance’s favorite songs, Clair De Lune. Only this rendition was written for guitar. James couldn’t believe how closely it stuck to the original, and he just knew that it was perfect. It’d take him a while to learn, but he was determined to do it.

He spent the entire afternoon studying the music, trying a few lines here and there, and working on his other music for his own lessons. And still, Lance had not come. It wasn’t unusual for Lance to be late, but whenever he wasn’t coming he would usually email or text him. And as far as James was aware, lance had done neither. Or if he did, nothing got through to him.

With a small sigh James packed up, walking back to his room to set his things down.

“Back already?” Rolo looked up from his desk, tilting his head.

“Yeah. Lance didn’t show. Where’s Keith?”

“I dunno, out I guess.” He shrugged. “Lance really was a no show? Maybe you should go check on him.”

“Maybe...” He shrugged, plopping on his bed. “I guess I can... Its still early.”

“He didn’t come to lunch today, either.”

“What? He didn’t?”

“Nope. And he didn’t say anything to anyone about having an extra tutoring session like you did. Even his roommates weren’t sure why he didn’t come.”

“Is he in his room?”

“As far as I know. They said he was kind of moping around, but they figured he’d be fine. Maybe not.”

The frown James had just grew larger, firmly settled onto his features now. “I’ll.. go check on him then... Maybe something happened.” He got up, smoothing himself out a little.

“Well, good luck. See you at dinner maybe.”

“Yeah... Thanks Rolo. See you.” He gave a halfhearted wave as he moved into the hall and the other went back to his work. What on Earth could have upset the normally happy and lively boy so much as to skip lunch with his friends and skip their normal time together? It had to have been something big... Hopefully it wasn’t- maybe he was just feeling sick.

“Well,” James mumbled to himself when he got to the room, “here goes nothing.” He paused and took a breath, knocking on the door. “Lance? You in there?”

“Nope. Leave a message.” Lance called back, his voice muffled.

“Lance... Can I come in? ‘m... I’m worried about you. Rolo said you skipped lunch and then you didn’t meet me in the music room... Is everything okay?”

There was some shuffling around before the door opened, a sigh sounding “No... No everything isn’t okay...” Lance sighed, rubbing at his eyes before going to plop on his bed. James followed hesitantly, shutting the door behind himself.

He sat quietly beside of his friend, voice soft when he did speak. “What’s wrong..?”

“They finished the branch campus near my home town.” Lance started, waving at James to silence him before he interjected. “So what? Right? Well... Mama is making me transfer there. And it’s probably going to be permanent.” Lances voice shook now, his head in his hands. “I miss my family but I see them over breaks and everything... I-I won’t see you guys anymore now... I-I don’t know if I’ll ever see any of you again...”

That last part hit James hard. Extremely hard. He was silent as he went over things in his mind. They could always text each other, and call. Even email or video chat! “We... We don’t have to lose contact though... I know it won’t be the same but... But we can text and call one another and all that... right...?”

Lance nodded, now leaning on James. “Yeah but... But I won’t get to stay up late with Hunk and Ryan anymore, or watch Hunk and Pidge work on their crazy inventions... Or study with Keith... eat lunch with you guys.... And... I won’t get to play music with you anymore, or study with you, or go on walks and everything... We can’t do all of that on our phones...”

James hesitated before putting his arms around the other, hugging him tightly. “Well.. One day we’ll just have to find each other again and do all of that... just like we do now..” He sighed, shutting his eyes. “I’m gonna miss you so much, though...”

“I wish I didn’t have to transfer... Yeah, maybe I’ll be able to come here for college but... but that isn’t a guarantee..” He was hugging James back now, taking a deep breath. “One day we’ll have to meet up again... I don’t want to lose any of you guys, you’re all great friends...”

“When are you leaving...?”

He sighed, rubbing at his eyes with one hand and sitting up. “Let me look...” Lance picked up his phone and read over his mother’s message. “She’s letting me stay until the summer semester is over for Veronica and Rachel but then I’ve got to be going home... They’re going to help me pack up then fly back with me...”

“That gives us a few weeks at least... And without classes to worry about!”

“But don’t you go home over summer?”

James shook his head. “My mom and dad are traveling a lot this summer, so I’ll be here for most of it. I don’t know about everyone else though..”

“I guess we’ll find out...”

“You can always ask them at dinner?”

“I.. Guess... I’m not very hungry though.”

James frowned, grabbing his hand and standing. “You still need to eat something- even if it’s something light. You already skipped lunch.” He tugged Lance to his feet, pulling him to the door. “C’mon. Besides, this is another chance to spend time with everyone before you go.”

“Fine, fine.” Lance gave in as he stumbled behind James. “I’ll tell them about it when I’m ready to though... okay?”

“Alright... I think it should be tonight though, if you can manage it... Getting it all out there quickly might be better in the long run.”

He sighed, nodding as they walked downstairs. “I make no promises about it being tonight... But I’ll tell everyone soon.”

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Luckily, Lance did tell them on his own. It wasn’t that night, but the upcoming Friday night that he said something. It was hard for him, but he did it.

Everyone was devastated, as expected. They’d all been together for three years, day and night for most of the year and here one of them wouldn’t be coming back to excitedly tell them how the summer went. It took a while to calm everyone down enough, but they all agreed that they were going to do as many things as they could all together and try to spend time with Lance. They also promised that they would send Lance emails or text him- no one wanted to lose him completely.

And that’s what they did. For the next month and a half as their friends slowly but surely returned to their homes, the ones who remained at the Garrison continued to go on adventures and spend time together. Those who had gone home kept in close contact with their friends still stuck at school.

But, as good things do, it came to an end when James, Lance, and Keith were the last in their group still at the school. They’d been the only ones there for about a week, and now their number was diminishing again. Only this time, it was Lance who was leaving. For good.

“Hey, you’ve gotta text me and keep in touch, Keith!” Lance had said up at their rooms. Keith agreed with a laugh, a sad type of smile on his face.

“I will, I will... Be safe. We’re gonna miss you.” They shared a hug, brief but still there. Keith had a private lesson to attend, so his goodbye wasn’t easy to extend out to walking Lance to the car waiting for him. But James’s was.

He’d helped his friend put the last of his things into the back seat with a heavy heart, freezing when he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Hey James? Thank you.. for helping me out and spending time with me since we’ve been here,” Lance said, his hand staying on his shoulder as James faced him. “It really means a lot to me. You’ve been a great friend and.. and I really don’t want to lose this. I don’t want to lose you..”

James managed a sad smile, his hand going to Lance’s shoulder as well. “You won’t. You’re.. one of the most important people to me- if not the most important...” He took a breath, swallowing hard. “I’ll keep up contact with you for as long as you’re comfortable with it..”

“Well, you can bet that’ll be for a long time, James...” Lance trailed off, falling silent. There seemed to be more that both wanted to say, but they couldn’t really bring it to words. Lance gave up trying, simply pulling James into a tight hug which the other returned quickly.

“I’m gonna miss you so much, you know..” He mumbled into the taller boy’s shoulder, struggling to keep his voice steady. “Playing my guitar in the music room won’t ever feel right without you there to listen..”

“And playing the Piano on my own won’t feel right without you watching over my shoulder...” Lance mumbled, holding him tighter. “One day we’ll have to meet up again...”

“Yeah... Yeah we will. Hopefully one day soon..”

“Hopefully soon..”

“Lance!” Rachel called a few moments later, settling in the car. “Come on, we have a flight to catch!”

The two stepped away from one another, sad smiles on their faces. “Have a good summer..”

“You too. I’ll text you as soon as I land, okay?” Lance stepped over to the car door, opening it as he spoke.

“Yeah, sounds good. Be safe, man.. Take care and all.” James shoved his hands in his pockets, his smile getting more and more forced as this farewell drew out. Every emotion he had towards Lance was kicking in to overdrive, and keeping them back was getting incredibly difficult.

“You too. Goodbye, James...” The taller boy hesitated before getting into the car, rolling down the window and waving as the car slowly pulled away.

James waved back, waving until the car was out of sight. The car and the boy he’d had a puppy dog crush on. Maybe it was best that Lance left now, so that these confusing feelings would go away. They would just be friends, especially now that Lance was going back to cuba for five years- maybe longer.

“Bye Lance..” He mumbled long after he dropped his hand, slowly trudging up to his bedroom to wait on that text.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

“Hey lover boy,” Nadia’s voice tore him from his thoughts, as did the grape to his forehead. “C’mon, would you eat? Quit being so nervous!”

“How can I not be nervous..! One of my best friends and the guy who I’ve had a crush on for three years is transferring back here for some classes, and he’s showing up this afternoon. Nadia, if it were Ina transferring back you’d be all in knots because of it.”

“No, I wouldn’t be. Cause I would have told her how I felt already- even if it was just to air out my laundry.”

“Wait,” Keith finally chimed in, pulling out an earbud. “James still hasn’t told him?”

“Hey-!”

“No excuses!” Nadia pushed her glasses up, leaning over the table.

“To be fair to him,” Pidge pipped up, “Long distance relationships are harder to keep up. Plus, James knows that Lance has a preference for women in his bisexuality.”

“But,” Hunk spoke up, seeing the wince James made, “He does like guys too. He just... Hasn’t dated any very seriously.”

Ina rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “None of you are helping his confidence, I hope you know. He’ll tell Lance when he’s ready.” She paused, taking a teasing tone now. “That, or he’ll probably explode.”

“Thanks Ina.” James grumbled, putting his chin on his hands. “I-I will tell him. I have a plan to-“

“Ooo! Tell us!”

“Nadia, relax.” Ina elbowed her, shaking her head.

“Go on and tell them James, its not a bad plan.” Rolo spoke up, introducing the subject of James’s love life to the last part of the table.

“Fine, fine... But please- Don’t say anything to him, okay?” He waited until most everyone agreed, taking a deep breath. “There’s this tree on one of the hills that we used to go to after practicing- one of the ones with the walking paths and flower beds around it. I asked him to meet me there Saturday evening- skip dinner and have a picnic out there. And well.. There’s a song that he really likes on piano, and I found a guitar version for it. I’ve been practicing it for ages and... I’m gonna play it for him after we eat and then spill my guts and hope for a good outcome.”

“Oh! So that’s why you wanted to borrow my picnic things?” Romelle tilted her head, a faint smile on her face.

“Ah- Yeah. Thank you again, by the way.

“Welcome!”

“That’s sweet,” Nyma hummed, giving a halfhearted glare at Rolo. “Maybe you could take some pointers from him on what romance is, hm?”

“Ny- C’mon-“

“Anyways, that’s really sweet James. If he isn’t swept off his feet by that, I don’t know what would get him.”

“James? Could Hunk and I help you with the food? No offense but... It may be best to let someone else handle the cooking.”

“At least he isn’t as bad as Shiro.” Pidge snorted.

“No one’s as bad as Shiro.” Keith shook his head.

“Yeah, if you guys want to that’d be really great. Thank you.”

“Our pleasure!” Shay gave him a smile before turning to Hunk to plan what they would make. Both seemed excited about it.

“So that’s what you’ve been practicing for ages, huh?” Keith looked over to him.

“Mhm, that’s what ‘classical bullshit’ as Rolo puts it that I’ve been working so hard on.” He relaxed some as everyone began to turn to their own conversations- likely about his upcoming plans or their own with Lance, but at least they weren’t staring him down any more. “Hopefully he likes it.”

“Mhm... I’m sure he will. Good luck and break a leg anyways, though.”

“Thanks Keith.” James gave a tired smile. “Really appreciate it.”

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

As things would turn out, James making plans for the end of the week was a good idea overall. Lance was bombarded with old friends and teachers wanting to catch up from the moment he got back, and hadn’t had time for anything else aside from his class work. But finally, things had mostly settled at the end of the week.

Of course, all of this waiting had made James more of a nervous wreck than usual. He’d gone over and revised his plan several times, snuck off to secluded areas to practice the song, and had multiple instances where he was about to call it off. The latter, he realized, would cause the entire hallway he stayed in to turn on him and tell him what an idiot he is, so quickly he decided that he couldn’t full on cancel things.

Saturday finally came, the food basket sat on his desk with the blanket, and guitar in its case beside said desk. With a sigh, he adjusted the buttons on his shirt. “This is such a bad idea. I should just tell him I can’t come- i’m feeling sick or something. Yeah I could do that-“

“But you absolutely are not going to.” Keith climbed down from his bunk, shaking his head. “You’re hopeless sometimes, I swear. Stand still.” Keith unbuttoned James’s shirt then buttoned it again, not crooked. Then he rolled James’s sleeves up to his elbows, taking a step back. “There. You’re dressed nicely but you don’t look like a pretentious asshole or anything like you usually do.”

James huffed and rolled his eyes, gently shoving Keith. “Wow, thank you.”

He shorted, handing James his guitar. “You’re welcome. Now get going or you won’t have time to set up.”

“Consider me gone, I guess. If Lance comes back without me, assume I died of embarrassment.” He sighed, putting the case over his shoulder and picking up the basket.

“I get your guitar.”

“Of course you do. See you later.”

“Have fun- and really, relax. It’ll be fine.”

“Thanks..”

While James was being fussed over and then setting up the picnic, Lance was having his own crisis. Crises, more accurately. He was trying to finish unpacking, ans he realized one of his boxes still hadn’t arrived. That, and the fact that all the sweaters he put on had a stain that he’d forgotten about or they looked awful with the polo he wanted to wear.

Finally he’d managed to find a sweater that matched his under shirt, and that didn’t have stains on it. But then, came his hair. This young man was nothing, if not put together in at least his looks.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a crisis if he wasn’t having the hardest time with a cowlick. Eventually though, his issues were taken care of and he was on his way- Late, but not terribly so.

But even the minor tardiness was sending James into a tailspin. What if this was a bad idea? What if Lance found something better to fo? Someone better to spend the evening with? Even if he did show up, what if he hated what James had set up? What if he hated the song? What if he rejected James? If things were never the same between them? What if he absolutely ruined everything with this?

“James? You okay?” He snapped to attention, nearly tripping in his pacing when he saw Lance finally round the tree trunk. “Woah... Did.. you set this up yourself..? Dinner- Even candles- Damn, you really know how to treat a guy, huh?”

James flushed a deep shade of red, giving a nervous laugh. “Only the best for you, Lance. Which is why Hunk and Shay made dinner for us. Can’t take credit for that, or the blanket and stuff itself... But I put it all together.” He rubbed the back of his neck and sat down, near to his guitar. “Hungry?”

“For Hunk and Shay’s cooking? Absolutely. And if I ever say otherwise, something is seriously wrong.” He laughed and sat beside the other man, settling himself by a plate. “This looks delicious.”

“They even threw in some muffins for after. The actual meal is some sort of Italian chicken. I didn’t ask too many questions.” He shrugged, passing the other some silverware. 

“Mm, that’s surprising. You’re not usually the go-with-the-flow type of guy.” Lance pointed at him with his fork before taking a bite. “Holy shit- this is incredible. A substantial rival to mamas. An absolutely worthy second to her cooking.”

“Well, I didn’t get much of a chance to ask questions. They shoved a basket at me then shoved me out of the building.” James chuckled, quietly beginning to eat. Lance was right- the dinner was amazing. One point for James, twenty for Hunk and Shay for helping him get that point.

“So, what have I missed that I wasn’t texted about, hm?”

“Ah, nothing really. You already know about Shiro and Curtis getting engaged, as well as most everyone getting researching jobs. Allura and Lotor both work for his fathers company- Allura is more of the PR person though.” he hummed in thought, shrugging. “Axca works there too, as Lotor’s assistance. Otherwise, you know everything. You probably knew all of that too.”

Lance nodded as he spoke, already a decent way through his meal. “Mhm. Rachel and Veronica told me most of that. Said Adam was going for some teaching degree too so he could work on campus and do research. Shiro works with their aviation studies, yeah?”

“Mhm. Curtis works on the engineering, and Matt works on the different projects his dad does when he isn’t teaching.”

“Man... Its hard to think that not too far in the future we’ll be in their shoes.”

“If we survive college that is.” James joked, shifting to face Lance more. “Keith and I are probably gonna follow in Shiro’s gigantic footprints. Ina’s talked about teaching and Nadia isn’t sure yet.”

“And Ryan is gonna go into a bit of everything, focusing on piloting and cinematography. Hunk for engineering and culinary, Shay for humanities. As if that was a hard guess.”

“Can’t forget Romelle going for teaching and culinary, and Rolo for mechanics. Not sure about Nyma though.” James pointed out, eyes widening some when Lance set down a empty plate and reached for the muffins. “Geeze- Hungry?”

Lance stopped, rubbing the back of his neck as he finally plucked a muffin out of the basket. “Just a little bit. A combination of hunger and nervous eating, I guess.”

“You’re nervous? What for?” Lance McClain. Nervous. What on Earth?

“Well- Yeah. I mean, this is the first time I’ve been alone with you in three years. Like, physically together and alone with you.” He sat up, shrugging as he took a bite of the muffin. “Didn’t wanna mess anything up, ya’know?”

James laughed at that, shaking his head. “I was nearly having a panic attack because I was worried I’d mess things up from the start- I can’t believe that you were nervous too..!”

The tan male rolled his eyes, gently shoving James as he laughed. “Oh shut up and finish your chicken- you asshole- quit laughing! You were nervous too!”

“Its a relieved laugh, shush!” He shook his head, setting his plate down. “God- This.. This feels really good. I missed this...”

“Yeah.. Yeah, I did too.” Lance looked over at him with a grin. “Hey, how about we get back to our old schedule? Saturday afternoons and evenings, just the two of us?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d really like that.” James nodded, shifting slightly. Maybe he should say it now- get it over with. “Hey.. Lance? Before I end up playing for you.. can I be real with you for a second?”

“Huh? Of course you can. You can tell me anything, James.” Lance looked over at him with a raised eyebrow.

He took a deep breath, nodding some. No going back. He needed to get this out before he chickened out. “I’ve... Wanted to tell you this for years, actually. But I didn’t want to complicate things or push you away- plus I wasn’t even sure about it fully until about a year ago but.... I like you, Lance- like- in the romantic sense...” James shifted slightly, swallowing hard. “Even if nothing comes of this, I thought you should know. And if you don’t want anything to, that’s perfectly fine! Knowing your preference for girls, I don’t want to pressure you in to anything-“

“James-“

“I just don’t want to ruin our friendship. If it came down to it, I’d rather be your friend than your boyfriend if it meant possibly pushing you away-“

“James-!”

“-cause you’re one of my best friends and having you in my life in some way is what’s important to me-“

“James!” Lance finally clamped a hand over his mouth to quiet him. “You’re rambling, James. Relax..” Slowly Lance moved his hand away, thanking God that James was shut up for a few seconds at least. “James, if there’s any guy I’d want to try things with, it would be you.”

“It.. would be..?”

“Absolutely. You’re one of the few people with the patience for me, and you.. really care about me.” He paused, shifting slightly. “I’ve wanted to experiment with a guy and.. I want it to be you... I’m not sure how it’ll go but- I think I feel the same. I really think I do...”

James reached out and carefully took his hand, squeezing it. “We could take things as slow as you’d like... Really, I just want you to be happy and comfortable... and if I can be your boyfriend in the process, I’d be honored...”

“You’re sure about all of that?” Lance laced their fingers together hesitantly, looking over at him.

“I certainly am. Never been more sure in my life.”

“Well, in that case,” Lance shifted to sit closer to James, a soft smile on his face. “Consider yourself honored then...”

“Really..?” James looked over to him, an excited look on his face.

“Really.” He laughed, shaking his head and pulling his hand from James’s to reach for the other’s guitar. “C’mon, play a song for me now...? Something pretty that I can tie this night to.”

The other boy snorted, taking the sheet music out from the bag and handing it to Lance to look over while he settled with his guitar and pick. “How’s that one?”

“Clair De Lune..” Lance breathed, leaning against James with his head on the other’s shoulder, being sure not to block his playing. “It’s perfect.. I can’t believe you found a guitar version of it...”

“Found it for you, you know..” James glanced back at him with a smile, testing the tuning. “Hopefully you’ll enjoy it.” 

Lance shut his eyes as James started to play, a smile firmly stuck on his lips. “I’m sure I will...”


End file.
